I want to tell my shrink something... but it'll cost me.

[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

My shrink just does meds. I see him about 4 times a year. I saw him in June and he asked how things were going. I mentioned my troubles at work... while he was writing my scripts. All he said was, "Do your best and keep your chin up."

I just got a bill from his office. He charged me for a full therapy session. He billed my insurance company for $175 when I thought I was telling him what's new. He charged $175 for 10 minutes!!!

Now I have an extra $50 bill I have to pay.

I have something I need to tell him, but I can't afford to tell him!

It's SO FUCKING ridiculous.

Should I just say, "I need to tell you something. I do not want counseling. Please don't charge me."

I'm a normal person. I have depression. Why bilk me? It only keeps me from wanting to tell the truth. It IS an extra $50 for this month. I'm a friggin' proofreader!

If i bring this up will he charge me? Why bother telling him if I'm depressed?

I'm just SO SO FRUSTRATED!!!!!!

[PapaBear]

Call his office and say you have a billing problem you need to discuss, and go from there. You can probably work it out without risking it being charged as a psych consult.

[Death Metal Moe]

Goddamn, I ask people "How's it going" all the time. It's a very standard conversation opener. All this time I should have been charging them $175 for my counseling services.

That's a pretty scumbag move. I mean you probably just thought he was shooting the breeze with you as he filled out new scripts. But he charged you a full therapy visit for his Jimmy Stewart advice of "Keep your chin up, we're gonna turn this thing around."

I don't know, you may want to see if you can use another doctor if that's how he's going to operate. Just my advice.

[tanless1]

college/university often have supervised programs. you talk w/ the shrink in charge and then he assigns you a student/counselor.
you have the session w/ the student, then the shrink and couselor go over the session.
...it'll cost you $10. then your GP would be willing to prescribe med's accordingly.

[boosterp]

Four times a year, I am fucked up. I see mine once a month at the most. I had been going every 2 weeks. :blink:

[Doogie]

I say get a new shrink...this guy is not doing his job. If you needed plumbing work, would you hire someone to work on a piece of the pipework once a month??

"This room keeps flooding can you fix the pipe??"
"Ehhhh, buy a lot of mops and open the windows..."

Move on to someone that will help you with your needs and wants. Watch how fast his attitude will change too once your ass leaves.

[biggirl]

Weird. The psychiatrist that I have seen for my anxiety always slots 1/2 hour to write up prescriptions and talk. Never had a billing issue. Sometimes we have even gone over the 1/2 hour with no extra charge.

I hope it works out. I would definitely call and tell them exactly how you told us what happened. That isn't fair.

[furie]

I have depression. Why bilk me?

but, that's who get's bilked


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[Justice4all]

he charges you 175.00 for only 10 minutes? This guy sounds like a scam artist to me. I would complain big time. Papa said it best...call and state you have a complaint with the billing.

[Yosammity]

I don't think there are any psychotherapy billing codes for less than 20 minutes.

Find out exactly what the billing code was (it's usually a 5 digit number).

This may have just been a simple mistake.

[Boogie in Va]

You just went in to get a script filled. He asked the initial question. You should not have to pay for that visit. Good luck to ya.